Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, BLUE BLOOD MEETS BLUE COLLAR? Cynthia St. Aubin: When writing Bad Boy with Benefits, the third book in the Kane Heirs series, I quickly realized that Law Renaud’s older brother Remy had his own story to tell. I found myself really curious about what kind of heroine could stand up to the sarcastic, sometimes surly single dad with a chip on his shoulder and a distillery to run. I loved the idea of pitting Remy against Cosima Lowell, a smart-mouthed Los Angeles-based reality TV producer with a New England pedigree and a secret agenda. Basically, Blue Blood Meets Blue Collar was a shamelessly perfect opportunity to combine several of my great loves: whisky, docudramas, and second chance romances.   Jen: How did Cosima Lowell and Remy Renaud meet? Cynthia: I thought long and hard about what circumstances would have landed these two characters from such different backgrounds in the same place at the same time. At a smoky little biker bar outside of Memphis, their shared love of motorcycles and mischief sets them on a fast ride to a one-night stand that winds up having consequences that stretch into the decade that passes…

Jennifer Vido: What is the inspiration behind your new release, THE AUDREY HEPBURN ESTATE? Brenda Janowitz: After writing The Grace Kelly Dress and The Liz Taylor Ring, I knew I had to write a book to honor my other favorite Hollywood starlet, Audrey Hepburn. When I began researching her life, I discovered so many things that I never knew. Once I learned that Audrey was a homebody who loved nothing more than cooking at her house, I knew I had the start of my new novel.   Jen: What draws Emma Jansen back to Long Island? Brenda: Emma learns that the home where she grew up is going to be demolished, and she decides that she needs to see it one more time.   Jen: How does Emma feel about being reunited with Leo and Henry? Brenda: I don’t think Emma is too happy about it at first! Going back to the estate where she grew up brings these two men from her childhood back into her life. It forces her to reconsider her past and how it relates to her future.   Jen: Who is your favorite character in the book? Why? Brenda: Oh, that is such a hard…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, THE HALF OF IT? Juliette Fay: During the pandemic I was intrigued by how many people seemed to be taking the pause in social contact to look inward and do a sort of self review. Basically they were asking themselves, “Is this where I’m supposed to be, doing what I should be doing, with the person I’m supposed to be with?” For a striking number of them, the answer was no. I imagined what it would be like for someone my age (58 at the time) to come to that same conclusion. It would be so tough to have to admit to yourself that you’ve been veering off course for years, and that the time you have left to fix things is limited. I asked myself: What makes you end up in the wrong place, with the wrong person, doing work that doesn’t really suit them? Where did that first step in the wrong direction begin? And how do you make a course correction now to try and improve the situation? (For the record, I am very happily married, love my work, and adore my community!)   Jen: Let’s talk about Helen Spencer….

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise? Colleen Oakley: Two things: it’s part homage to my favorite feminist duo of the big screen: Thelma & Louise and part homage to my grandmother, an incredible woman who died a few years ago at the age of 92 and inspired the sharply quick-witted and pragmatic character of Louise.   Jen: Let’s dive right in. Who is Tanner, and what’s happening in her world? Colleen: She’s a 21-year-old college dropout whose life took a series of unexpected bad turns—the latest of which has landed her as the live-in driver/caretaker for an 84-year-old woman that she would very much rather not live with or take care of.   Jen: What’s going through Tanner’s mind the first few days living in Louise’s home? Colleen: Tanner is content to just get by—do the bare minimum of what’s required of her in her new position, and in her free time, get lost in her video games and ignore Louise. That is, until she starts to notice a few strange things about the house she’s living in and her new roommate Louise—whose life may not be as boring or uninteresting…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new standalone novel, The White Lady? Jacqueline Winspear:  I wanted to explore the life of a female character who had served in two wars, from girlhood to womanhood – and who is then faced with a skirmish in a third war, that of the fight against organized crime in post-war 1947 London. Her background was never going to be passive – she was trained in the art of killing in the Great War and is called upon to do the same in the Second World War. Writing this novel gave me leave to explore how people endure war and the scars that remain, even though, for most, those scars are hidden in the quest to just get on with life after peace has been declared.  As one of the characters said in my novel, Birds of a Feather, “War is never over when it’s over – it lives on inside the living.”    Jen: Who is Elinor White, and what has brought her to the English village of Shacklehurst? Jacqueline:  Elinor is the woman who has served in two wars in undercover resistance roles. She lives in a “grace and favor” house on the outskirts…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, The London Séance Society? Sarah Penner: I’ve always wanted to write a ghost story, but haunted houses are a common trope, and I wanted to do something different and fresh. Then, one day while chatting with my mom, she said to me, “we should go to a séance. A real séance, not a fake one.” At that very moment, a lightbulb went off: I love the word “séance,” as it feels sultry and mysterious, and I decided my book would, somehow, incorporate a woman who was known worldwide for her skill in conjuring spirits during séance.   Jen: Who is Vaudeline D’Allaire and what powers does she have? Sarah: In 1873, Vaudeline is an internationally-esteemed spiritualist living in Paris. She’s known worldwide for her skill in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identity of the people who killed them. In other words: she’s skilled in the art of séance, and she’s the best of the best. So skilled, in fact, that she’s about to be called to London on a very high-profile murder case, despite the fact that the police banned her from the city several years ago.   Jen:…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, WEDDING OF THE SEASON?  Lauren Edmondson: The idea for Wedding of the Season came about five years ago, when I was visiting Newport on a girls’ trip. We went to visit The Breakers, the grandest of all the historic Newport mansions owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County. I learned that the descendants of the Vanderbilt family, who had called the “cottage” home for 120 years, were moving out of their third-floor apartments, having turned over the rest of the mansion to tourists and preservationists. This relocation was either voluntarily or involuntarily, depending on which source you read. The situation sparked my curiosity, and soon I was down the rabbit hole of Vanderbilt and Gilded Age mansion lore. I saw fascinating parallels between the outrageous spending habits of turn-of-the-century American royals and today’s elite. I also thought it would be great fun to set a story in one of those Newport mansions.   Jen: What brings Cass Coventry back home to Newport, and how does she feel about her return? Lauren: Cass, reluctantly, comes back for her older sister’s engagement party. It’s not that she doesn’t love her sister or her future…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, THE SWEET SPOT? Amy Poeppel: I was inspired in part by the iconic brownstones in my beautiful neighborhood of Greenwich Village, an area that is in many ways the sweet spot of New York City. I wanted to write about a family that is lucky enough to move into a home very near Washington Square Park, although it must be said that this new home is in dire need of renovation! I was also inspired by my many friends who always manage to keep their senses of humor, even in the face of hardship, women whom I admire more and more the older I get.   Jen: Who is Lauren Aston, and what’s going on in her life? Amy: Lauren is an artist, a mother of three, a wife, a daughter, and a sister. Her career as a ceramist, which was already important to her, has suddenly taken off, thanks to the attention of a home design guru named Felicity who commissions a big order of Lauren’s porcelain pieces. Now that Lauren has so much work to get done, the Aston family finds itself with a childcare problem that they temporarily solve by inviting…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, GOOD FOR YOU? Camille Pagan: I can’t remember how this story came to me, which is unusual; I just remember that I was supposed to be writing another book I was under contract for, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea. I started writing and a few days later I had several chapters on my hands—which was when I knew Good for You was my next novel. I wrote the entire thing in about two months (which is really fast for me!) then sent it to my agent. We weren’t sure what my publisher would think, but to our relief, they loved it as much as we did.   Jen: What’s happening in Aly Jackson’s professional life? Camille:Aly’s just landed the top job at All Good magazine, a Real Simple-esque publication. She’s been training her entire adult life for the gig, but six months into it, she has a meltdown after hearing her coworkers’ trash-talking her. What they don’t know is that Aly’s recently lost her brother, who was her lifeline. She thinks she’s coping okay—but of course, she isn’t at all. The magazine’s publisher insists she take a month-long leave of…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, THE MITFORD AFFAIR? Marie Benedict: I’ve been fascinated by the rarified, mesmerizing, often strange world of the Mitfords since college when a dear friend and I backpacked across Europe after a semester abroad and I brought along one of Nancy Mitford semi-autobiographical novels to read during our train travels. But when I came across the Mitfords again as I did research about their cousins the Churchills while writing another novel, LADY CLEMENTINE, I learned about the shocking ways in which these sisters were at the epicenter of World War II — and I knew I had to write this timely tale.   Jen: Who are the Mitford sisters? Marie: The six Mitford sisters were the aristocratic “it” girls of the 1920s and 1930s in Great Britain. Each sister was more beautiful, brilliant, and eccentric than the next, and they appeared in the headlines so often their mother publicly stated that anytime she saw the phrase “peer’s daughter” in the newspapers, it was about her daughters. The sisters found themselves in the cross-hairs of the lead-up to World War II.   Jen: What happens in Diana’s life that causes discord among the sisters? Marie:…